


The four times Robbie was rotten and the one time he wasn't.

by poiintless_writing



Category: LazyTown
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, I Don't Even Know, M/M, SO, im sorry, save me?, this is horrible
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-16
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-08 21:08:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8862103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poiintless_writing/pseuds/poiintless_writing
Summary: Everything in Robbie's life had always been simple. He'd wake up, stay in bed for hours, maybe get up to eat, and go back to sleep. It was exactly what he wanted and how he'd planned to spend the rest of his life but something out there in the universe apparantly didn't like seeing Robbie enjoying himself. Or so he thought.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Haha this started as a joke that ended up having a basic outline and I took way too seriously so I could procrastinate studying.... This honestly shouldn't have happened but anyway. Enjoy lmao

Everything in Robbie's life had always been simple. He'd wake up, stay in bed for hours, maybe get up to eat, and go back to sleep. It was exactly what he wanted and how he'd planned to spend the rest of his life but something out there in the universe apparently didn't like seeing Robbie enjoying himself and so it sent this annoying little girl to his town and let her ruin the relaxation he had so carefully created. And she did it all with one of the most infuriating men Robbie ever had the misfortune of meeting: Sportacus. If the name hadn't been obvious enough to tell, he was the single-most active person to ever walk, or flip, on this earth. There was never an encounter with him that didn't leave Robbie breathless after a long day of... moving. Even the name made Robbie feel like his tongue was doing backflips and he was sick of it.  
Although, Sportacus wasn't all bad in fairness. That moustache of his was surprisingly stylish even though it made Robbie question whether or not gravity actually existed around it. He questioned whether gravity worked around Sportacus at all with how easily he seems to hop over everything.

Ever since that fateful day Robbie had sworn to capture Sportacus and put an end to the all the tremors he had to deal with everyday. At this point the floor of his secret lair was never going to look clean again what with all the dust and dirt falling down on it. Or maybe he just had to do some hoovering but complaining and declaring Sportacus his nemesis seemed like far less effort when all was said and done, especially when this time he was sure he had the perfect plan.

After the last disaster of a sports day Robbie figured the town was finished with them but apparently since they also decided the sports day was a disaster they scheduled a re-do. Right on top of his base. Surely there was no way they knew this was where he lived but Robbie had his suspicions.  
He wasn't prepared to be woken up at 9am to the thunderous sound of running and laughing and so Robbie found himself with very little patience and a very big balloon. Why did all of the towns activities have to effect him? Why did they never inconvenience Sportacus? It was well overdue in Robbie's opinion and the sheer idea of his plan helped to wash away his exhaustion.

As quietly as possible he left his home with all of the equipment he needed tucked away carefully into his pockets and found himself a hiding spot onlooking the sports fair that was no doubt designed by the Blue Elf. In it all the children were already gathered, talking excitedly to each other, or at least most of them were. Stingy seemed to be standing apart from the children, grumbling over something that Robbie didn't even care enough to find out about. On the other side Sportacus stood talking with the Mayor, his arms crossed in the way that made Robbie think it was purely just to show off his muscles. It seemed the next activity was due to begin in just a moment which greatly helped Robbie with his plan.  
He double checked his pockets to make complete sure he hadn't forgotten anything, once everything was in motion he wouldn't have time to make any quick trips back down.

"Alright kids!" Sportacus announced, his smile framed in a strangely perfect way by his moustache, "Grab your sacks and line up!" And that was Robbie's cue to move.

The mayor was already gone and making his way back inside which only left one problem to be dealt with. It seemed almost like childs play, while Sportacus was distracted with keeping an eagle eye on the children to ensure it was a fair race Robbie stealthily kept out of his line of sight and dropped one of apples on the floor. If there was anything that would distract him from exercise it would be a healthy diet.  
Sometimes Robbie wondered how he hadn't managed to get rid of Sportacus yet when he was so easily captured. It was a bit of a sore spot.

The noise of the apple falling and it rolling in front of Sportacus worked it's disgustingly healthy magic and he took the bait. With a mumbled confusion over it's origin he didn't hesitate to take a bite and promptly fell into Robbie's waiting arms, unconscious. He dragged Sportacus away and into a nearby bush before any of the children had enough time to see anything. At this point Robbie was sure he was getting muscles himself from how often he was lifting and moving nowadays. It was sickening.

With Sportacus out of the way there was only a few simple steps before he could finally put an end to the sports day. The sound of cheering alerted Robbie to the end of the race. He only had a few seconds before they'd notice Sportacus' absence. That Stephanie was too observant for her own good. Or maybe she was just too dependant on Sportacus' presence. Robbie couldn't quite tell which it was.  
Without wasting another moment Robbie spun himself into his new disguise. The hazmat suit seemed a little bit over the top for the situation but in his defence he was running on only 10 hours of sleep and so his plans weren't at their peak.

He stepped out from bushes and walked onto the sports grounds just as Stephanie was beginning to look around for their referee. "Attention children," He called out, his voice distorted by the helmet further concealing his voice, the accents were fun and all but they did a number on his vocal chords, "this area is now under quarantine. We ask you evacuate the premises immediately for your own safety." The look of surprise on all of their faces was priceless, Robbie had to bite his lip to keep from sniggering. Such gullible kids.

The entire situation proved to be much easier than expected in the end. After his orders for them to leave they all picked up their belongings and hurried towards their homes. It was a rare moment of peace that Robbie attempted to cherish before the pink girl of course had to come and ask questions.

"Excuse me sir, have you seen Sportacus?" Her eyes darted in every direction, obviously nervous.

"'Fraid I don't know any Sportacuses so if you could move along-"

"He's a man about this height," she reached up with a hand to indicate what she means, it seems a couple of inches shorter but she tried, "wearing mostly blue and has a moustache? He was supposed to be with us but he disappeared."

The desperation in her voice made Robbie stop before telling her to just leave already. She was genuinely concerned for his whereabouts and probably his safety. It shouldn't have been a surprise to him, Robbie knew how close those two were you could even mistake them at father and daughter but even so he couldn't bring himself to lie to her, not completely. "I... think I might have seen him earlier. He was running but I didn't see where he went. I'm sure he'll be fine so just go home."

She didn't look completely satisfied with his answer but seemed to accept it anyway and with a quiet 'thank you' she finally left. Robbie sighed. Eventually he was able to finish off his work and get back to bed. He set about putting in all of the pegs first at each corner of the sports grounds. It was lucky that it wasn't actually attached to the floor or else there would be a lot more effort involved but as it was all he had to do was hammer the pegs in, tie some strings around each and then attach those strings onto his massive balloon saved especially for a situation like this. Or his birthday. Whichever happened to come first.

When everything was in place Robbie took a minute to stand back and appreciate his own work. A very swift job if he does say so himself, zero interference from neither the children nor Sportacus and the balloon half pumped with air. Any second now it could start floating away and dragging everything with it. Even if the winds don't cause the balloon to float towards Sportacus' ship, just having it all out of the way will be good enough, although the revenge would be much more appreciated. However moving the balloon and the all the activities a few feet over would take too much effort so he'd rather take his chances and let the winds do their thing. 

It's almost suspicious how easy it had all been... Robbie can't quite shake the feeling that something is going to come along and ruin everything but maybe that's just because of the many,  _many_ , times that exact thing had happened. Although as the balloon rises and Robbie removes his disguise in order to comfortably enjoy this moment he can't think of a single thing that could go wrong and spoil this feeling. 

Except for maybe that distant screaming. Where was that even coming from? Robbie looked around him, trying to figure out the source of the noise. Maybe one of the children managed to set something on fire in their homes? But it didn't sound like it was coming from this level... it seemed to be coming from... above him. Robbie slowly tilted his head back and grimaced at the sight of a boy with glasses waving frantically down at him. He thought he evacuated everyone from the course! He wore the suit! Told them to leave! So why was that kid still standing there? He couldn't have made a noise sooner? Couldn't have maybe just done what he was told in the first place?   
Robbie's a pretty rotten guy but letting a child float into the sun or crash into a plane was only a little bit too evil for him. With a long sigh and a lot of willpower he forced himself to go to where he had hidden Sportacus. His crystal was trying to alert him to the danger but he was still just as unconscious as he was when Robbie had left him. After some internal debating and and a lot of self reflection Robbie reached out and pulled on one of Sportacus' moustaches. He woke with a jolt and flung himself onto his feet in mere seconds, not even wobbling the slightest bit. Robbie will never understand where all that energy comes from. 

"My crystal!" He gasped, not even acknowledging Robbie's presence until he almost runs directly into him. "Robbie? What's happening? Who's in trouble?"

It takes a moment for words to form in Robbie's mouth. Sportacus didn't even expect Robbie to have been apart of the trouble? Didn't instantly ask 'What have you done?' The fact that despite everything he's done Sportacus wouldn't immediately blame him is.... somewhat touching. Robbie quickly tries to push the thought away and settles on pointing to the sky where the boy continues to float away. "There was an...accident." He begrudgingly admits.

Sportacus eyes followed to where he's pointing and widen in shock. "Thank you!" He said in a way that can only be genuine and makes Robbie feel even more uncomfortable with the whole ordeal. 

"Whatever.." he grumbled in response while Sportacus rushes to get onto his ship. There's no telling what Sportacus' plan was to rescue the kid but Robbie didn't feel like sticking around to find out. If he waited any longer then surely they would all know that the danger was his fault and he'd have to deal with that mess. Easier to just leave before things have to get messy. However as he turned to go back home and try get more sleep he found himself face to face with Stephanie who looked at him with confusion. "What do you want?" He asked , his face scrunching in disgust towards this oncoming conversation. 

She seemed to come to some sort of mental conclusion and smiled at him, wide and pleasantly surprised. "You're not as bad as you make yourself out to be Robbie." She said sincerely. "If you didn't try so hard to take away all of our fun we could maybe all try to get along and find a middle ground you know..." Was she...bartering with him? Trying to trick him? Robbie didn't have any idea what she was on about and so he fixed her with a bewildered expression and slowly stepped away before making a bee-line to his base. 

Find a middle ground? What was that supposed to mean?

In the comfort of his own home Robbie sunk down into his chair and inhaled slowly. From above he could hear the sounds of cheering and laughing as Sportacus no doubt saved the day yet again. He wondered if Sportacus would be disappointed to find out that Robbie was the cause of all the commotion, whether or not he'd be angry. It wasn't like it mattered and yet... Robbie was unsettled by the idea. The memory of Sportacus thanking him fresh in his mind as he curled up to sleep, the town strangely quiet for once. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uhm.... wow okay so I wasn't expecting this to do as well as it did?? You guys are all so sweet??? I'm?? Thank you??  
> Here's chapter two I guess!

The following days had passed relatively uneventfully... yet another thing strange around the town. Maybe the worry over the dangers of Robbie's last shenanigans had gotten through to them and they all finally stopped being active. It was unlikely but as Robbie looked out of his periscope the day after the sports fair and saw no one around he couldn't think of any other reason why they were suddenly so quite and...no-existent. He certainly wasn't complaining.   
The quiet helped him catch up on some desperately needed sleep, sit down and finish that cake he'd been dying to eat for a whole day, and think over the events of the day before. Or more accurately, think over why he was thinking over the events of that day.  
  
However the calm, same as all of the good things in Robbie's life, didn't last and just when he was finally get back into his old healthy sleeping pattern he was woken up to unwelcome action from the town. Robbie right then came to the conclusion that everything those children and Sportacus did was set up to spite him. Robbie doesn't like the noise? Continue it. Stop the noise so he can be at peace for once? Start it back up again when he's comfortable! It was some sort of hate crime at this point. 

Sure Robbie wasn't a flawless human and he did some pretty terrible things but that sort of sadistic behaviour was the last straw. They wouldn't be able to mess around with him if they were all asleep, something that could very easily be arranged.

Robbie had touched on the idea a couple of times before, it was a quick fix and he could do it with relative ease no doubt, but each and every time he came to the point of frustration where it seemed tempting he... backed out. There was no denying that it was a quick fix and when it worked all of his problems would be solved but something in the back of his mind told him to think of something else. He couldn't make out the reasons why and yet he always put down the bottle and stormed further into his lair in search of another master plan to eradicate the screaming.   
This was different though. Now when Robbie stood in front of the glass cabinet, that was fairly useless since it actually only held the bottled gas, he reached for it and this time didn't stop himself. He'd tried so many gadgets and schemes that had seemed impossible to foil and each and every time he was severely disappointed in the outcome. It was becoming clear that if he wanted it all to stop he was going to have to take drastic action.   
He knew he could just use the gas on himself, allowing him to sleep through anything they do but it was at a stage where if he was the one to be asleep while they kept running around it would look more like defeat than victory. 

With a huff Robbie grabbed a gas mask as he made his way upwards. The source of his misery was immediately obvious, the unmissable shockingly blue suit bobbing up and down excitedly in the distance and Trixie talking animatedly with Ziggy. They seemed pleased over something. Robbie bitterly figured that they were laughing over his misfortune.  
He knew he was just being dramatic at this point but as he trudged semi-cautiously to where he had left his massive cannon he found he didn't really care.

The next part of his plan was fairly tricky. If he wanted to put the whole town to sleep he'd need to be as high up as he possibly could be without worrying too much about the effects the fall would have on his bones and overall 'living' status. Robbie didn't waste any time by having any second thoughts, he slid the gas mask onto his head, ignoring how uncomfortable it was, and climbed into the cannon ready to be fired once the timer ran down.  
  
If this plan didn't work he doesn't know what will. He'd probably have to end up leaving town, find himself a nice little field to live in alone and far from anyone else. He'd have done it sooner if it wasn't for the amount of walking it would take to get there and then there was the problem of all of his belongings that he wouldn't be able to leave behind.  
Although if he was being truthful with himself...he didn't want to be all alone in a field. He just wanted to have the freedom to sit down and do whatever he wanted in peace. Robbie didn't even mind Sportacus all that much nowadays so long as he was just standing there and not trying to involve the whole town in his next big game of football. In fact Robbie found Sportacus to be quite sweet. He always did so much for the children and even the odd time for Robbie when they weren't fighting. Robbie's life may have gotten more difficult when Sportacus arrived but... sometimes he finds himself asking whether or not he was really such a bad influence on everyone.  
Maybe it was unhealthy for him to like sweet things as much as he did. 

Robbie was so deeply buried in his thoughts he didn't hear the sound of the timer running out and almost had a heart attack as he was fired into the sky, the bottle very nearly falling out of his grip. He managed to hold onto it tighter just in time. Robbie could feel himself slowing down through the air and decided it was the right moment to release the gas, his hands were trembling but he chalked it up to being the fear of his landing. The bottle opened with a satisfying pop and the purplish gas erupted out, flowing down towards the town and all of his inhabitants. Finally they will have to be quiet and lazy. Robbie was already planning what cake to eat once he got back home.

The trip back was strange to put it mildly. The gas had worked, seemingly without a hitch, and at this feet were Sportacus and those kids asleep. He had expected to feel proud and fulfilled, all of his problems were taken care of, life should be able to get better from that point onwards but as he crouched next to Sportacus' sleeping body, Robbie's hand lightly resting on his head, he only felt guilty and regretful. Why, he had no idea.

The rest of the day passed in a hazy sort of way, he'd gotten back to his lair but he barely remembered walking to it, he'd eaten his cake but he didn't taste and of it, and then he'd gotten into his bed but it was hours before he finally managed to sleep, his mind buzzing with thoughts. Why was everything so much worse now? He had gotten what he wanted, silence at last! He should've been dancing with happiness not moping around wondering why he was questioning his decision. His mind kept coming back to beginning of the day, maybe he had over-reacted. It was nice of them all to be so considerate for the past while even if they must have been out on a field trip somewhere else. It was probably unfair of him to blow up so quickly at the first bit of muffled laughter he could hear. Even so there was nothing he could do now. He had made the gas but he never thought he'd need to make an antidote for it so no matter how guilty Robbie felt the fact was that what was done was done.

He didn't sleep well.

~~~

It was the morning when Robbie was woken up, earlier than he should've been after his late night. He sat up and rubbed at his eyes wondering why he was awake. At this point he wouldn't be surprised if he would never slept in again as a personal punishment for what he did. The whole town asleep and only Robbie awake no matter how hard he tried to join them. Robbie already felt like he was going mad. Or maybe he felt that because of the faint sound of a voice in the distance which, obviously, couldn't have been there. He shook his head in an attempt to get rid of it but it was to no avail. Frantically Robbie threw back his covers, pulled on his shoes, and ran out of his home in search of the voice.

 _I have to be hallucinating,_  he thought as he walked through the town, the voice seemed to be getting louder,  _The guilt has eaten away at my sanity. Perfect. Always knew this day would come._

"-ello? Anybody out there?" Robbie spun on his heels towards the sound of a young girl. He crossed his fingers in hope that she'll be real and walked over. 

"Is there someone there?" He called out, surprised himself at the desperation in the voice.

"Robbie?" She said back, and suddenly Stephanie's head popped out from around the corner of a house. She looked paler than usual and her eyes were blown wide. A whole new layer of guilt was added to the rapidly increasing pile in Robbie's brain. "Robbie! Why's everyone asleep?!" 

He was relieved to see her but the reminder of why he was relieved washed it away. He sat down miserably on the floor. "I... may or may not have had something to do with it..." He confessed. It was a pointless confession, anyone with eyes or.. eyes that were open could tell that it was Robbie's fault. Everything that goes wrong in Lazy Town is probably Robbie's fault. He felt so awful.   
"I couldn't help it, they were all  _laughing_ and  _playing_. All I wanted to do was sleep. All I ever want to do is sleep! But then all of you just want to ruin that with your sports days, your dancing, your  _singing._ How do you even have so much energy if you get up so early I just don't understand." He felt he was being a little petulant but the only one around to witness it was Stephanie so any embarrassment he might've felt never came. 

With a small sigh Stephanie sat down next to Robbie. "So you just put them all to sleep?" He nodded. She sighed again. Even though she's a child she sometimes comes across as a lot older which always takes Robbie by surprise. "I told them to try and be a little bit quieter... ugh, I leave town for one day and they get themselves into trouble." 

Robbie turned to face Stephanie, "You asked them to be quiet? Why? I thought you were just as active as the rest what with all the jumping and helping Sportacus." 

She shrugged. "I am, but you're not so I thought it was unfair that it was always us who got what we wanted while you were left suffering. Sportacus had agreed but I guess he doesn't realise how much noise we all make." Robbie stared at her, more confused than anything else. 

"But why do you care whether or not I get to sleep? I'll be the first to say that I've been nothing but a hassle to all of you." He grumbled out his words, they were too heartfelt to be said out loud although he did want Stephanie to hear that he was touched by her selflessness. 

"Okay yeah, you've done some pretty mean things to all of us here, especially Sportacus, and it's not okay for you to continue doing it but you're not a terrible guy, Robbie, no matter how Rotten you can seem at times. So that's why we all want to try and help you to enjoy living here as much as we do!" She smiled at him and before he knew it, he was smiling back. Suddenly he felt like a complete idiot. Earlier he thought they did everything just to spite him when really they never meant to inconvenience him or ruin his days. If only he'd talked to them first before trying to throw Sportacus in a cage...

"Thank you." He said. It didn't feel like enough but it was all he could think of to say. "I wish I could fix this sleeping problem for everyone but I don't know how. The gas is gone and I never made something for waking everyone up!" He held his head in his hands and groaned. If only this had all never happened.

Stephanie closed her eyes and hummed. They sat together like that for a few minutes, Robbie in his depths of despair and Stephanie calmly trying to think of a way to fix his mess. He didn't know what she hoped to accomplish, Robbie might have been able to reverse engineer an antidote if he had a sample of the gas or where it might've left behind some residue but as it happened he couldn't start taking out people's lungs to try find some and the bottle had most likely shattered on his way down. He said as much to Stephanie but she only hummed louder.

"So," she finally said after another minute, "what you're saying is, if we find that bottle then we can save the town?" 

"Possibly."

"Then what are we doing sitting here when we could be searching for it?" She seemed triumphant with her idea but Robbie only shook his head. 

"The bottle's probably broken or fell in a pond and had any residue washed off. Even if we find the bottle there might not even be anything on it that we can use to test!" 

"Well we won't know until we try, we will." And with that, she was off hunting. Robbie waited behind for a moment to continue his pity but he then stood up and set off after her. If they were going to be doing this then they'd need to first make a plan of action.

It seemed weird to Robbie, working with a girl that caused a fair amount of grief in his life in order to wake up a whole town of people that will cause him grief no matter how accidentally. Yet he didn't regret it in the slightest. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is kinda like a christmas present tbh  
> I hope you enjoyed it even though I honestly wasn't planning on continuing this but whoops, my hands slipped a lil  
> I feel bad that this is kinda a two parter... I might have to up the amount of chapters this has but yknow it's christmas eve and I wanted to get this finished before midnight lmao


End file.
